Snowboarding is a relatively new and growing winter recreational activity. The experience is somewhat similar to a skateboarding experience, though, among other differences, in snowboarding a user's feet are fixedly attached to a board during use. After a run, a user releases one foot, normally the rear foot, and pushes with that foot to maneuver through chair lift lines and onto a chair lift. During the chair lift ride, the board dangles unbalanced and uncomfortably from the permanently attached foot. Upon exiting the chair lift, a user reattaches his or her free “foot” before descending a run.
A need exists to alleviate the awkward and uncomfortable situation of having a board dangle from a user's foot during a chair lift ride. Several prior art devices are known that address this problem. They include the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.: 6,349,968 issued to Owen; U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,048 issued to Slaughter; U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,729 issued to Gomez; U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,722 issued to Ritchie; U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,159 issued to Butterfield; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,728 issued to Verville.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,968 to Owen teaches a cord with a releasable carbiner type clamp. This device is disadvantageous for several reasons including that if there is any problem with release, due to operator error or mechanical failure, the user is unreleasably coupled to the moving chair lift, potentially resulting in serious injury at unloading and/or stoppage of the lift apparatus. Also the extended cord does not lend itself to ready and secure stowage.
Various other know devices, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.: 5,090,722 to Ritchie, U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,159 to Butterfield and U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,728 to Verville, illustrate positive engagement devices provided on boards, bindings or boots where the “free” foot is temporarily coupled to the board through the positive engagement device. These devices tend to be disadvantageous in that they may be difficult to use particularly in winter conditions where parts may frequently be clogged with snow or ice and cold fingers may loose the dexterity required for operation. Also, device reliability is questionable due in part to fouling or inherent design limitations in the devices or the object to which they attach, etc. Furthermore, while they may balance weight more evenly over two feet, the weight of the board and boots, etc., is wholly supported by the legs not permitting leg muscles to rest more fully before the next run.
A need thus exists for a mechanism for better supporting a snowboard or like device during chair lift or related transport. This need may include the need for a device that more evenly balances weight, can mount to a lift chair or other structure in a supportive, secure manner which is readily and inherently separable from the chair or structure, is readily and securely stowable when not in use and/or directly supports board weight permitting legs to rest, among other needs.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide these and related features or functionality. The attainment of these and related features and advantages should be more readily apparent to those skilled in the art, after review of the following more detailed description of the invention taken together with the drawings.